The New Girl
by Kay Kay Ess
Summary: Everyone knows that Lily hated James and James hated Lily. But was he truly willing to try something new to really get to know her? Read and review...thanks, everyone!


James stared at the ceiling in a daze. Today had been a pretty good day, despite a clumsy moment. He had accidentally spilled some pumpkin juice onto Lily Evans's skirt during lunch. She had become furious, yelled at him and had then shoved her way past him to wash it out in the girls' bathroom. He had tried to apologize though it was no use...she wouldn't hear of it.

Well, he thought now, at least she touched me...somewhat. He could still feel the spot on his arm where her shoulder had bumped into him when she had stormed out of the Great Hall. Perhaps it's some sort of sign, James mused to himself. Maybe Lily Evans had done it deliberately to him because—

"Yo, Prongs, where'd you go?"

James sighed and sat up at the sound of Sirius's voice. His hour for daydreaming and pondering had ended.

"Aha, found you." Sirius grinned at him, his head poking into James's fourposter. "Let me guess...Evans is on your mind again."

"Too bad we weren't betting on that."

"So do you think she'll ever forgive you for _today's_ mess up?" Sirius's question was sarcastic.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? Evans finally fell head over heels for me...in fact, we're engaged."

Sirius gave a loud snort. "Ha, you wish."

"You want me to prove it?"

"Go ahead, Prongs...lead the way."

James hopped eagerly out of the dormitory and marched downstairs to the cozy common room with Sirius on his heels. He spotted Lily down by the fireplace, surrounded by a group of fourth years. She appeared to be helping the younger students with their homework. James walked toward her and cleared his throat rather loudly, causing Lily to turn and look up at him. He could see anger immediately flood her pretty features.

People had begun to look at them and gather behind James, interested. The two of them together always seemed to bring a crowd.

"What do you want, Potter?"

James gulped, suddenly wishing that he hadn't opened his big mouth to his best friend. "I...uh...you...er..."

Lily sighed. "Potter, if you're going to blubber on like that then I suggest that—"

"Isn't it true that we're engaged?" The question came bursting out of him.

Lily's eyes grew wide and her face went pale. "Married? To you? Ew, Potter, don't make me sick."

James gave a nervous chuckle. "Sorry...it was...just a joke. I, uh...didn't mean to...freak you out like that."

Lily ignored him and turned back to the fourth years. The small crowd began to disperse, having seen their entertainment for the evening.

Sirius snickered behind James. "Nice try, pal."

James sighed and turned back toward the dormitories. Just as he reached the stairs he looked back toward the fireplace. Even from a slight distance Lily's dark red hair glowed in the firelight. He smiled to himself. Indeed, she was perfect.

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Later that night, James sat on the couch in the common room, staring at the fire. Predictably, he was thinking of Lily and the incident earlier that afternoon. He felt stupid and ridiculous for doing it now, but before it hadn't been such a bad idea. In the back of his mind he had had hope that Lily would go along with it. He should have known that she would have reacted like she did.

"Sorry that didn't work out, James."

James turned to see Remus sit in an armchair next to him. "You saw it?"

"The entire thing."

"It was pretty bad, huh?"

"Yeah. What brought up the whole engagement thing?"

"A small joke with Padfoot."

"Lily didn't seem to find it too amusing."

James sighed. "I'm trying too hard, aren't I? I should just stop trying to impress her...maybe it would be good to get to really know her first. What do you think?"

"Sounds like a good idea...compared to your last, at least."

"But how? I would try and ask her some questions, but as you know, she hates my guts. Why do I always seem to be such a git around her? But...she doesn't mind you, Moony. Do you think you could...?"

"Sorry, James...Lily wouldn't tell me anything because she's smart enough to know that I'll pass information on to you sooner or later. You'd have to...I dunno, send a girl through to her somehow or something."

James thought for a few minutes and then snapped his fingers. "That's it!"

"What's it?"

"Thanks, Moony!"

Before Remus could answer, James had already rushed up to the dorms.

"Oy, this cannot be good."

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"Sirius, wake up!"

"Wha...hey, lemme sleep, dude!"

James pulled his best friend's blanket to the end of the bed, causing Sirius to sit up sleepily. "Prongs, gimme my blankie back!" he muttered bitterly.

"Come on, Padfoot. You have to come with me for this to work."

Grumbling to himself, Sirius sat up. "What is it? Where are you?"

"Under the invisibility cloak...duh."

"I can't see you, so it doesn't matter...back to dream land for me."

"Sirius!"

"Fine...whatever..."

A few minutes later the two boys were silently making their way down to the dark and silent common room. Remus had left and gone to bed.

"So...would you mind telling me your plan, Prongs?"

"Eh...when we get down there."

"Down where?"

"To the potions classroom."

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"James, this plan is impossible."

"Why do you say that?"

"Oy...because you're pretending to be a girl!"

They were now in the boys' bathroom. James was admiring himself in the mirror. He had indeed turned feminine.

"Yup...it's a genius plan."

"Let me guess again. You're going to use this position to get to know Evans."

"Were you listening in on me and Moony?"

"No...I can just read your mind, that's all."

"Okay...we still have to work at this. My hair's still...short!"

"Some girls have short hair."

"Help me grow it out."

"Fine."

A few moments later James's hair reached his shoulders.

"Ah, yes...perfect. All we need now is a name."

"Hm...we can't make it too obvious."

"How about...Jamie Patterson?"

"Okay...if you want Lily to figure it out within a minute, you can go with that."

"Eh...I know! Jane Porter!"

"Blech...too plain, dude. And still quite obvious. Besides, I think that's Tarzan's wife's name. How about you switch the initials?"

"Good idea." James examined himself again. "Um...Paige Johnson!"

"Quick thinking...and I have to admit, it's not half bad. Nice to meet you, Paige."

"Ah, the pleasure's all mine."

The two boys exited the small bathroom, snickering.

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Because James now appeared as a girl, he had to wait in the common room while Sirius woke up the other Maurauders. It was now five o'clock in the morning. A few minutes later Remus and Peter appeared with Sirius at the top of the steps. They descended to meet James by the fireplace.

"Hey, guys, let me introduce to you Paige Johnson. She's a new student."

"Hi there," Remus greeted. "Nice to meet you...I'm Remus." He held out his hand.

Laughing on the inside, James took it and shook it, nodding.

"And I'm Peter. Nice to make your acquaintance."

"Mm-hm," James muttered, not wanting to reveal his voice.

"Hey, you have to meet James, too." Remus looked around until his gaze settled on Sirius. "Padfoot, where is he?"

Sirius gave him a wide grin and began to crack up.

Realization soon hit Remus full force and his eyes grew wide in sudden shock. "No way...oh, my God...no way!"

"What?" Peter asked eagerly. "What is it? Where's James?"

"Hey, Wormtail," James said.

Peter leaped back in shock. "Whoa..._J-J-James?_"

James fell out of the armchair, laughing. "Oy...that was awesome."

Peter looked like he was going to faint. Remus was just staring in amazement.

"Yeah, Moony..." Sirius said. "We need you to help us with his voice."

Remus blinked. "What's this all about? Oh, no...so this was your plan!"

James grinned. "Took you long enough."

"Okay, whatever...so what do I have to do now?"

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"It'll take a few hours for the feminine voice to settle in. For now, you're going to have to fake it to the best of your ability, Prongs," Remus informed James.

"Thanks, man...I have to admit, this is sweet. Our best prank yet. But unlike the others, no one can figure it out. It has to last a while in order for it to work. I have to get to know Evans better. So when we're in front of other students, you call me Paige. When we're alone, you call me Prongs, just in case someone is spying on us. Oh, and I can't hang out with you guys as much as usual in case Lily grows suspicious. I have to make friends with her and the girls...you know."

"Yeah...but first someone has to introduce you to Dumbledore as a new student," Remus pointed out. "We can't forget that. Now who can do that?"

James grinned. "Why not Lily?"

"No...you still need time for your voice to adjust. How about Frank?"

"Hm...okay. Good idea."

"But what about you, James? Soon people are going to realize you're missing...what do we do about that?"

"I can dismiss him," Sirius suggested. "I can tell him, as James's best friend, that his...um, great grandfather died and he had to leave school for a family emergency."

"Do you think Dumbledore will buy it?" Peter asked.

"Maybe...for a bit," James answered. "It'll only be temporary, anyway. I can just pretend to be Paige for a couple of days...or maybe weeks...until she has to move away to another school for some crazy reason."

"Sounds good to me," Sirius said.

"But when it's all over, Lily might discover it anyway. If you give it away that you know more about her once you're you again, she'll figure it out."

James was beginning to get annoyed with Peter's continuous objections. "Then I won't let on that I know more about her, Wormtail."

"Okay then...I guess."

"So...can you go up to the girls' dormitory right now?" Remus asked.

James gave a nervous sigh. "I can try."

He looked up at the staircase that led up to the chamber that was forbidden to the boys. He had tried plenty of times to climb up the stairs, but every time that he almost reached the top, the steps always transformed into a slide, causing him to come falling back to the common room floor.

James took a deep breath and glared at the set of stairs, determined to make it to the top. He looked at the other boys, who nodded.

"Good luck there, Paige!" Sirius waved at him with a snicker.

"I don't need luck this time," James muttered. He began to climb. He closed his eyes as he neared the top, thinking that maybe the plan wouldn't work. He would come crashing back to the bottom as usual. But this time the stairs treated him differently. He walked like a blind man on flat ground and opened his eyes.

"I made it!" James beamed and gave the Maurauders a thumbs-up from the small balcony. They each grinned and gave silent whoops in return. He was in.

Lily woke up to the sound of someone walking into the room. She sat up in her fourposter and peeked through the thick curtains. A dark figure of an unfamiliar girl was walking to the bed closest to the door, the one that was unused. A new girl. Now delighted and wide awake, Lily stepped out to meet the unknown student.

"Hello."

The girl jumped and turned around. At first she looked shocked for a moment, then regained casualness. "Hi...I'm Paige Johnson...I'm new here."

To Lily, the girl's voice seemed especially high and squeaky. She shrugged the observation off, deciding that it was just probably nerves. "I'm Lily Evans...it's nice to meet you." She held out her hand. Paige seemed to stare at it in amazement for a few seconds as if she'd never seen a human hand before. Then she took it and shook it.

"Yeah, heh, it's nice to meet you, too."

There was a slight pause.

"Lily...? Wha's goin' on?"

The red-haired girl turned at the sound of her best friend's sleepy voice.

"Morning, Faith."

A girl with short blonde hair stuck her head out of one of the fourposter beds. "Who's that?"

"Paige Johnson...she's a new student."

Faith stumbled over to them sleepily. "Hey there...I'm Faith. Sorry...I'm not usually up and about at this hour, unlike Miss Head Girl over here."

"Head Girl?" Paige looked bewildered.

"Yeah...Lily's the one who gets to boss all the other kids around."

Lily rolled her eyes at Faith's remark. She winked at Paige. "It's not all bad."

Paige gave a nervous giggle. "Sounds...fun."

"Would you like to go down to the common room, Paige?" Lily suggested. "We can show you around a bit."

"But there's nothing to see," Faith protested.

"Ignore her...she's always pessimistic in the mornings."

"I'd love to...see the common room, that is," Paige agreed.

"Okay. Perhaps I can show you the classrooms later. Hey...did you get a schedule?"

"No...I still need to talk to...Professor...Bumblebore?"

Lily laughed. "That's Professor Dumbledore."

"Ah, yes, that's it." Paige gave another nervous giggle.

"We can do that now, if you'd like."

"Okey dokey."

The two girls began to leave.

"Fine...just leave me here!" Faith muttered.

"Come on, Faith."

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"Good morning, Professor Dumbledore," Lily greeted once they were in the headmaster's large, circular office.

He had smiled at them as soon as they had entered. "Why, Lily and Faith...it's nice to see you girls. And who is this, may I ask?"

Seeing that Paige was too nervous to speak, Lily spoke up an introduction. "Do you think you could set up her schedule?"

"It would be my pleasure."

A few minutes later the three girls were leaving and looking eagerly at Paige's new class schedule.

"We have Potions and Charms together," Lily told her happily.

"And you have Transfiguration with me," Faith said.

"This is going to be so cool!" Paige said eagerly, her voice reaching the ceiling. She blushed. "Sorry."

"It's okay...were you raised as a witch?" Lily asked.

"No."

"Same here."

"So...who's hungry?" Faith asked.

"Me!" the other two girls cried eagerly.

"Well, then, let's go eat!"

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"What is it, Lily?" Paige asked.

Lily was looking around the large hall, apparently searching for someone. She turned to the dark-haired girl. "I was just looking for someone."

"Who?"

"James Potter...he's not at his usual table with his friends."

"Who's that? Your crush or something?" Paige looked interested.

"No way. He's just an annoying little prat that I can't stand."

"Is he younger than you?"

"No...he's a seventh year with us, unfortunately."

"Oh, okay."

"Yeah...now that I'm pretty sure that he's absent for breakfast, I can eat in peace without worrying that he'llconstantly ask meto go out with him. Oy, he is such a pain."

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James (Paige) was taking this all in.

_Ah, but Potter isn't absent for breakfast, Evans!_ he thought eagerly. _He's right in front of you, and you have no clue! Yes, James Potter, you are indeed a genius._

So far, the plan was working out great. He had decided to meet with the Maurauders secretly every night...now he just had to find a way to tell them. He wished that this plan could go on forever, but knew that was impossible. Lily...

"Paige? Paige...are you okay?" Lily looked concerned.

"What? Oh, yeah...sorry. I was just...having a moment."

The bell rang and the students began to head toward their first classes.

"Well, I'm going to get to Charms...good luck, Paige!" Lily waved and began to walk in the opposite direction.

"And we're headed off to Transfiguration," Faith stated. "Come on, newbie."

"Newbie? What's that?"

Faith stared at Paige for a second and then shook her head. "Never mind."

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The next thing James knew, Potions class was upon him. He was usually in a different hour than Lily, but now that he was Paige he shared the class with her. He couldn't wait to begin. The plan was flowing perfectly!

"Hi, Lily!" He spotted her standing by the far wall and rushed over to her, pretending that she was the only person he knew. "How was Charms class for you?"

"It was great...I love that class."

"Cool...I liked Transfiguration. It was very interesting, though I'm a bit slow."

Lily laughed. "Don't worry...you'll catch on sooner or later. Let's find seats."

Throughout the class James concentrated on the teacher, hoping not to gaze at Lily Evans too much. He didn't want to raise suspicion when he didn't have to. It turned out that they were paired up for a small experiment. James took in how Lily knew how to follow the directions perfectly and help him at the same time. He was even more impressed by her up close than usual. This was going great.

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The students were gathered in the Great Hall again, having lunch.Lily had to leave for a quick Head meeting in the middle, so James was left alone with Faith. "So...how's your day going so far?"

"Fine...and yours?"

"It's great...I love it here."

"Yeah, it's fun when it's brand new."

They ate in silence. Faith looked Paige in the eye, concentrating.

"Paige, this may sound weird...but there's something familiar about you."

James's stomach turned in anxiety at her words. "Really? Hm...maybe I resemble an old friend or something."He gave an uninterested shrug.

"I dunno...it's like I've seen you before somewhere."

James gulped silently and did his best to act cool and casual. "Nope, I've never met you before this morning...I would have remembered you."

"I guess so..."

_Too close, Prongsie_, James thought to himself. _Just act cool and everything will be fine...no one will discover who you really are if you just don't mess it up._


End file.
